Preparation prevents poor performance. You know that. It’s the most obvious rule you’ve ever been told by your manager. But what sets you apart from the also-rans is the quality of your preparation. Here we take a look at what highly successful salespeople do to prepare for that first meeting with a prospect.

1) Research so you have specific reasons to call. Don’t just find out a few bits and pieces about the company; go beyond page 2 of Google and dig deep into the background of the company, so you feel you know them like a shareholder would. Be curious. Develop some powerful questions from your research that prove you want to help the company.

2) Search on Hoovers.com or Riskdisk.com to check their rating. This might help you investigate their credit rating, so you don’t go too far before finding out you are wasting your time!

3) Do a search on the industry and your prospect’s competitors. What competition are they facing, and what can you do to help them achieve higher market share?

4) Check if the prospect themselves is on LinkedIn or Plaxo or FaceBook. Can you find out something specific that would help you build good rapport or highlight a need that can be solved?

5) Set a specific goal for the first meeting. Don’t go in with the idea of just selling your product or introducing yourself. Have a clear idea of what you are trying to accomplish.

Examples might be: Find out their decision-making process, discover their buying cycle, determine their specific needs, leave a demonstration model, introduce a package that would suit their needs for the next six months, highlight a new product or service that will solve a specific problem or challenge they are facing.

Whatever it is, make sure you set the correct goal for the meeting.

6) Ensure they understand how valuable the meeting with you will be. Call beforehand to make sure they are still expecting you. Strive to arrive early. Spend three or four minutes in your car going over your notes before you go to the meeting. Get into the right frame of mind, especially if you’ve driven a long-distance for the meeting.

7) Make sure you build rapport with the receptionist or PA before the meeting. These will be the very people who will put you through when you follow up after the meeting.

8 )Maintain your confidence and professionalism, so you make the right impact with all you meet in the company. Check out the magazines they have in reception. Do they give you an idea of what periodicals your prospect may be reading and advertising in?

By ensuring you have all the knowledge and background you need before the meeting, you’ll have the confidence to create a great impression with the prospect now and when you’ve built the relationship in the future.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

How often do you sit down and really plan ahead? Every day? Every week? Sometimes?

Planning ahead can really set you apart from other salespeople as it offers a glimpse of a created future. But there’s a way of planning that you may not have focused on before, and it will get you great results.

Most people tend to focus on planning forwards; that is, they make a to-do list of actions they need to take to reach their goals. However, seldom does this allow you to have a structured route, with items in the right order at the right time. And it always focuses on actions.

Planning backwards, on the other hand, provides the structure you need to help you get things done in the right order and the right time, as it focuses on results.

Steven Covey, of Seven Habits fame, speaks of ‘beginning with the end in mind’. And that’s what planning backwards allows you to do.

For example, let’s say you’ve got a specific goal to hit a target within one month.

Instead of looking forward at what you need to accomplish this week, the week after and so on, start with the target in mind and work backwards, dividing it into smaller goals.

Set milestones at strategic points in the month so that you know you’re on target.

These are your goals that you are focusing on.

When you’ve achieved these results, you can concentrate on going forward with specific actions. It helps you see the big picture, and the map you are using develops your motivation because you can see what you are needing to achieve before you set off on the  route.

It creates a forward momentum towards results, allowing you to choose your actions and adapt if things aren’t going to plan. That navigation system in your mind will keep you on track as you concentrate on results rather than just actions.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Last nights first ever LIVE TV Leaders debate between Brown, Cameron and Clegg was well worth a watch.

For me, I’m not really into politics but I am into people watching and communication strategies.

For me, here’s how Clegg closed the sale last night…

Overall, there were three suppliers – Brown, Cameron and Clegg.

Sound familiar?

By the way that Brown and Cameron were talking I think that they both thought that it was a 2 horse race and in general terms the way that they were talking with each other that came across.

But Clegg was very smart.

Brown and Cameron came across as preaching whereas Clegg had a clear plan of action – he had a sales strategy.

He’d use the persons first names who asked the questions and talked to them as though they were having a cup of tea whereas the other two would launch into a scripted spiel.

Clegg, also knew the pros and cons of each party, would let them argue a certain a point and would then mop up by saying something like “I asked you both to support me on that issue only last month and you Brown, turned me down and you Cameron ignored it”

This seemed to win a lot of points with everyone.

Clegg was also very transparent and in a world of “less than honest” politicians he kept going on about “sacking MP’s who were not up to scratch or who “abused the system” and also that his manifesto was the only one that said where the money was going to come from.

Clegg had a lot of style and “connected”

Cameron had some style (but it was mostly cheesey style) but lacked “substance”

Brown lacked both but I feel but his words on the economy of “let’s keep the money in the economy and let’s plough money back into the economy” was a big winner.

But who would you actually vote for?

Who would you put your trust into?

Clegg won the sale on style last night but will the electorate have the confidence to vote the Lib Dems in?

Sales Lessons For You

Have a clear communication strategy when you are faced with other suppliers pitching for the same business?

How will you “play them off” against each other without slagging them off?

How will you add the “substance” to the “style” to ensure that you will win the BIG SALE?

Ok, I’m done!

Watch next week’s debate and see how they change their approach and what they do to close the sale.

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

At MTD, we are always looking for ways to innovate and see things differently. Charles Thompson wrote one of our favourite books called “What a Great Idea!” and in it he discussed an interesting concept called “problem reversal”. Edward de Bono also developed this idea. How can it be applied in selling?

First of all identify anything that could really benefit from being improved. It could be your customer service skills or objection handling, or the like. You would most likely start off with a question like “How can I improve my skills in this area?” And, if you’re like most people, you either draw a blank or come up with a few ‘positive thinking’ ideas.

How about seeing it from a different angle by asking a different question. Something like: “How could I destroy the relationship with my client?” I’m sure you could come up with many more answers, like “Never phone them, take their business for granted, tell their competition about their bad points, deliberately put the wrong order in, place poor internet postings about them” and many others.

If we just did this, we would leave ourselves in a pretty negative state. So we apply ‘problem reversal’ thinking to these ideas. Go back to you original answers and tell yourself what the complete opposite would be. And make it so that it would never ever happen. So, if the answer you are reversing is ‘take their business for granted’, then decide to ‘contact all my existing clients with ideas on how their current business could be improved with a series of newsletters that add astounding value’. Add more ideas, like ‘drop in on a regular basis just to see how I can help, not just when I want to sell them something’.

The reversal of ‘place poor internet postings about them’ would be ‘use their testimonials to inspire other companies to look at your services’ and ‘tell as many of your prospects as possible about their successes’.

By doing this with all the original answers, you get your creative juices flowing. You take on a totally different way of thinking, and allow ideas to flood in that you hadn’t thought of before. What a great idea!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

An interesting change of thought came up at one of our recent Essential Selling Skills courses.

One of the delegates was bemoaning the fact that he spent a great deal of his working day sitting in traffic queues, and after he had made his customary phone calls and listened to Radio One, he got
bored and frustrated.

Our trainer asked how much time, on average, he spent in his car.

The salesperson said ‘about 2 to 3 hours a day, sometimes more, sometimes less’.

Do you spend that kind of time travelling? Do you feel that your time is wasted just sitting there listening to the radio or music CDs?

How about contributing to your personal development while driving to your next appointment, or back to the office?

Think about it for a moment…if you spend just 2 hours a day in the car, that’s an average of 40 hours a month, or (gulp) over 400 hours in a year!

That’s the equivalent of over 50 working days a year…or (are you ready for this?) TWO AND A HALF MONTHS of extra time in a year!

What did our trainer suggest to the delegate on the workshop?

How about turning your car into a ‘mobile personal development vehicle’!

There are literally thousands of CD packs out there that you can buy, or hire from libraries, on diverse subjects like selling, management, personal development, creativity, brain improvement, etc…the list is endless! Plus, there’s always my ‘Drivetime’ CDs that give you a shot in the arm before you get to your client!

Even if you only listened to these CDs for half the time you are in the car, that still equals 25 extra days training in a year!

What would your boss say if you asked them for that amount of training?

How about taking that training yourself…training that YOU are in control of!

Start off with the greats…like Jack Welch on Winning, Anthony Robbins on personal development, Brian Tracy on Sales Development…and then choose those people that inspire you to improve in other aspects of your job and life.

So save yourself the traffic-fume-frustration…get yourself a CD pack on an area of personal development just for you…tune in to the ideas that work for you…and see your sales confidence soar!

Happy Selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

If you’d like a copy of Drive Time Sales Strategies, my new 5 cd sales improvement programme, then please click on the link below.

CLICK HERE NOW FOR THE DETAILS

So you’ve arrived 30 minutes early and you’re sitting in your car ready to go in and visit a prospect and you’ve made the cardinal sin and have not done any sales preparation for this meeting!

Shame on you!

So you might have briefly scanned their website but that’s just about it.

Well, here are 5 areas to prepare for the sale now so it will give you more focus:

LAST MINUTE SALES PREPARATION TACTIC # 1
1. Know your objectives

What do you want to get out of this meeting?

Is it to qualify the prospect for a proposal?

Is it to identify the real decision maker?

Is it a fact finding mission?

Have a crystal clear objective in your mind so it will give you some focus.

LAST MINUTE SALES PREPARATION TACTIC # 2
2. What’s your secondary objective?

So your most wanted outcome does not fly…

What are you going to do then?

What’s your secondary objective?

To find out who they are using and why?

To find out their buying process?

To uncover some weaknesses in the supplier they are already using?

Have something up your sleeve!

LAST MINUTE SALES PREPARATION TACTIC # 3
3. Pull out the problems

One of the biggest mistakes that under-prepared salespeople make is that they rush it so much that they just “turn up and throw up” over the prospect.

They PUSH the benefits and features of their products and services instead of PULLING out the problems first and ONLY THEN solving the problem.

Don’t make this mistake!

With the limited time you have available jot down some questions that will pull out the problems from the prospect and unearth their pain.

……..and then you can solve the problem!

LAST MINUTE SALES PREPARATION TACTIC # 4
4. Objections!

You know what’s coming!

So take a little time to get centred and go over how you will handle them.

Will you frontload them in your talk?

Will you handle them when they just come up?

If they ask for discount what will your strategy be?

Be prepared! You know objections are out there!

LAST MINUTE SALES PREPARATION TACTIC # 5
5. Mindset if the key to success

Salespeople in a hurry act as though the prospect is “just another prospect”

You need to act as though they are the last prospect you’ll ever have!

That means that you need to get the thought of the commission out of your head and just focus on helping them.

When you strip out sales to it’s core it’s about solving problems and helping people.

So just think about this for a moment and come from this angle when talking to the prospect.

Okay, it’s time to sell!

(But next time do a more thorough job on your sales preparation……please!)

Happy Sales Preparation!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The Sales Jedi
MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

I’m often asked to write sales scripts for organisations, especially for telephone sales.

From time to time I’m also asked to write sales scripts for face to face sales too.

Here’s my take on this:

To be honest, OVERALL,  I am not a big fan of using scripts. If you’re new to a company, or if you’re selling a specific product then a script can help you to learn the ropes but a script should never be used verbatim.

I can tell a mile off when someone is using a scipt and you lose a lot of the personal touch and nouse that gets you through a sales interaction.

Instead, I’m all for using a framework instead of a script. With this it would look like a mind map of certain pieces of information or keywords to cover. Not a word for word script but a planned “not canned” framework.

Successful selling is all about being flexible in any sales interaction. As soon as you use a script and your prospect throws a question in that you haven’t thought of or don’t have a canned answer to, you can be easily thrown off track.

Instead, have a brainstorm of the areas you need to cover – whether it be a telephone call or a face to face interaction. Be flexible and use the framework as a guide.

If you are new, then use a script to start with and then ditch it in favour of a framework and mind map.

Happy planning and not canning your approach!

Sean

Sean McPheat

The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling

MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…